The New York Attorney General Leticia James on Thursday ordered Alex Jones to cease and desist selling and marketing products as treatments for the coronavirus.
The notice to Jones came after the conspiracist and pitch man sold his products as effective against the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, that is now considered a pandemic.
“As the coronavirus continues to pose serious risks to public health, Alex Jones has spewed outright lies and has profited off of New Yorkers’ anxieties,” James said in a statement.
“Mr. Jones’ public platform has not only given him a microphone to shout inflammatory rhetoric, but his latest mistruths are incredibly dangerous and pose a serious threat to the public health of New Yorkers and individuals across the nation.”
James said she could take legal action against Jones if he didn’t stop the “unlawful violations.”
“Within the next ten business days, please contact the undersigned to confirm that you have so complied,” wrote Lisa Landau, chief of the attorney general’s office’s health care bureau, in a letter to Jones. “Your failure to comply with this directive may result in further action by this office.”
James cited a specific claim from Jones about his “Superblue Toothpaste,” which Jones’ InfoWarsStore.com advertises “is infused with high quality Nano Silver.”
James accused Jones of fraudulently claiming “that the United States government has said his Superblue Toothpaste ‘kills the whole SARS-corona family at point-blank range.'” She pointed out that the FDA has not approved any vaccines or treatments for COVID-19.
Jones said Tuesday that “The patented nanosilver we have, the Pentagon has come out and documented and Homeland Security has said this stuff kills the whole SARS-corona family at point-blank range.”
“They’re still discounted despite all the hell breaking loose,” Jones added.
As TPM and others have reported, Jones has pitched several of the products at his show’s store as helpful in fighting COVID-19.
“We sell great anti-virals like DNAForce plus, or our great other systems out there that empower the mitochondrial DNA,” he said during a broadcast last week. “And our SilverSol products like the Super Blue toothpaste and other products. That is literally a stopgap against this.”
Asked about Jones’ pitches to consumers Wednesday, a Federal Trade Commission spokesperson told TPM the agency “does not comment on whether it will, or if it is currently, conducting any particular investigation.”
The FTA and Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday warned several companies, including the program hosted by fringe televangelist Jim Bakker, against falsely advertising products like herbal remedies and colloidal silver as effective against COVID-19. That warning followed a similar letter from New York’s attorney general to Bakker.
